Holding means for artificial dentures



July 11, 1933 H. D. ROWE" HOLDING MEANS FOR ARTIFICIAL DENTURES Filed Feb. 18, 1932 II'IGMRE' 2 ATTOR/VE/ Patented July 11, 1933 PATENT OFFICE HORACE I ROWE, OF SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA HOLDING MEANB FOR ARTIFICIAL DENTURES Application filed February 18, 1932. Serial No. 593,758.

The present invention relates to means for holding an artificial denture, or a portion of such a denture, in position in the mouth of the user.

It is one object of the invention to provide a means of the character that will securely and positively hold the plate, or portion of a plate, in its proper position in the mouth at all times.

It is another object of the invention to pro vide a means of the character indicated that will not require renewal as frequently as the means heretofore used; that may be quickly and easily applied or removed; that Wlll not introduce an excessive quantity of undesirable material into the digestive tract of the user that will be economical to manufacture, simple in form, easily applied, and highly efficient in its practical application.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a view in cross section of an artificial denture having a means embodying my invention in position thereon. H Figure 2 is a greatly enlarged sectional view of a portion of a lower jaw with a saddle carrying an artificial tooth mounted thereon.

Referring now more particularly to the embodiment shown in Figure 1, an artificial 3O denture is indicated by the reference character 1, and at 2 is shown a single sheet of textile fabric, in the present case cotton gauze, disposed thereon. r Before placing in position the gauze is dipped in a'solution o gum tragacanth and dried, and then out, somewhat roughly, to the size required to cover the entire superficial area of the denture that contacts with the roof of the mouth, in the present case, and the gums.

When the denture is seated firmly in position in the oral cavity the treated fabric forms a cushion therefor, relieving the presr sure on those parts that normally received the most direct and greater pressure and distributing it over the whole area covered by the denture.

Furthermore, many dentures are covered with small grooves and recesses, particularly the parts contacting with the gums, and these become packed with foreign material that is difficult to remove with a brush. By using the gauze as described these grooves and Y recesses are kept clean without difficulty.

The most important function of this treated gauze, however, is to hold the denture Ml position.

1 Theuse of gum tragacanth for this purpose is not new, it being common practice to sprinkle the denture with it in powdered C form just before placing the denture in the mouth. The powder dissolves in the moisture present on the denture and exuded through the tissues of the mouth and becomes a viscous mass that is efiective for the work for $5 a very short period of time. As the moisture increases, however, the viscosity of the substance is p'roportionately reduced and it quickly becomes inoperative as a holding means. Even when the material is quite viscons it permits some relative movement between the denture and the month since because of its very nature the one part may easily slide upon the other.

But when the treated fabric is placed between the denture and the wall of the mouth as described the above mentioned troubles are entirely overcome. The gauze of itself prevents a relative sliding movement of the denture and mouth wall because it is common to both' of them and presents a clinging surface to each. When the moisture present dissolves the gum tragacanth it becomes viscous, and full advantage of this viscous condition is taken because a bond has already beenestablished between the fabric and the viscous gum and consequently it binds the denture and the wall of the mouth together through the medium of the fabric.

It is, of course, much more diflicult to remove a denture atright angles to the surface upon which it is placed than by first giving it an angular sliding movement. By insert mg a fabric as described this characteristic is greatly increased because the innumerable I interstices in the fabric form as many suction cups sealed by'the viscous substance used. While for commercial reasons it is desirable to prepare the fabric by impregnating it with a suitable gum before placing it in fabric enters into every groove and crevice 7 and when removed cleanses these depressions 1 more perfectly than can easily be done with a,

brush.. Furthermore, the removal of the fabric also removes most of the gum, and when the denture is removed from ,the mouth but little of the gum is left in the mouth to be taken into the digestive tract. 1

In Figure 2 it is shown how the fabric is applied when used with a saddle, in which case it functions effectively in the same manher as when applied to a complete artificial denture. The saddle is shown at 3, the fabric at 4, and a section of the lower gum at 5.

Even when the denture is so perfectly fitted that no additional means is required to hold it securely in place the fabric may be applied and left for a short period of time and then removed for the sole purpose of cleansing the denture as hereinbefore described.

In such cases where the denture is well fit- .ted yet ,a little additional anchorage is dea sheet of fabric therefor having the intcrstices thereof completely filled and preilnpregnated with gum so that the latter is dist-ributed' throughout the entire area of the fabric and on each side face thereof, said gum when subjected to saliva having the property of thereby simultaneously securing the fabric to the denture and to that portion of the mouth from which the denture is supported.

HO-RACE n. ROWE. 

